SyFy Channel

[C.E. Evans]

For all of the complaints about SyFy, I think there are more people watching the network now than ever before, IIRC.

Personally, though, I really haven't watched anything on SyFy since Stargate Universe ended, but I am looking forward to Continuum and the upcoming Defiance though.

[Greg Cox]

C.E. Evans wrote:

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For all of the complaints about SyFy, I think there are more people watching the network now than ever before, IIRC..

Yeah. Personally, I think people tend to romanticize the past where Sci Fi/Syfy is concerned. Sure, they aired FARSCAPE back in the old days, but that was only one night a week. Most of their schedule consisted of reruns of old, cancelled shows. I used to refer to it as the Lost Elephant's Graveyard of Dead Genre Shows. I tended to watch the original stuff like THE INVISIBLE MAN and FARSCAPE, but had little interest in rewatching ancient episodes of THE INCREDIBLE HULK or whatever, aside from checking out an occasional ep for nostalgia's sake.

And, of course, now that pretty much everything is available on DVD, there's even less point in a channel that mostly reruns vintage sf shows. Anyone who wants to veg out on old BUCK ROGERS episodes can just buy the boxed set or download them from NetFlix or whatever . . ..

[Kegg]

Hyfen_Underskor wrote:

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And then there's that annoying trend of misspelling words like "Sci-Fi" (which is a misspelling itself).

Since Sci-Fi is short for Science Fiction, I have no idea what part you think is mispelt.

Greg Cox wrote:

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Yeah. Personally, I think people tend to romanticize the past where Sci Fi/Syfy is concerned. Sure, they aired FARSCAPE back in the old days, but that was only one night a week.

People have hated Syfy as long as I can remember. I do recall posters here being livid about the leaked details regarding the then-upcoming Battlestar Galactica reboot, and writing off Laura Roslin as a Bonnie Hammer insert character.

I don't hate Syfy, but besides their current rerun of TNG in HD and their Canadian import Continuum I have found basically nothing I want to watch on their channel.

I am tenatively looking forward to Defiance, though.

[Warp Coil]

I loved BSG. I liked Caprica. I enjoy their US adaptation of Being Human. Everything else on the network seems mediocre or sci-fi "lite", at best.

[Hyfen_Underskor]

Greg Cox wrote:

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Honestly, the wrestling is only one night a week. Yes, it's annoying, but it's not like they're running it 24/7.

In the meantime, they still air plenty of good shows, both homegrown and imported: WAREHOUSE 13, BEING HUMAN, FACE/OFF, HOT SET, ALPHAS, LOST GIRL, MERLIN, etc.

And I confess that I enjoy the campy tv-movies like SHARKTOPUS and FLU BIRD HORROR. If you're in the right frame of mind, they can be as fun as the "older B-flicks" you mentioned before . . . .

(Say the guy who grew up watching the likes of VALLEY OF THE GWANGI and MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS.)

As far as pro wrestling, I'm not so much against it as I don't really understand it's inclusion.....sort of. While there is no direct connection with pro wrestling and sci-fi, there seems to have been a connection with sci-fi fans and pro wrestling for some time. Horror movies, paranormal reality shows are no more connected to sci-fi (but often lumped together for convenience) than pro wrestling is. But they are all out there.

Pro wrestling by the way suffers the same problem sci-fi does. They both have a problem with their history. To many, pro wrestling started with Hulk Hogan, cable, pay-tv. To many it seems, sci-fi started with color and elaborate special effects.

The problem with genre/theme channels is that they usually have a generational cut-off. So consequently the older sci-fi programming (movies, tv shows) get pushed aside to retro themed stations like MeTV, TCM, TVLand, etc.

So it's not so much the inclusion of campy more modern movies I take issue with, but the exclusion of those older programs and movies they included in the 90's.

[Hyfen_Underskor]

Tom wrote:

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How did AMC go bad? With shows like the Walking Dead, Breaking Bad and mad men, i beg to differ. There movies are not bad either.

I have to sort of put an asterix there, because TCM took their place as far as non-commercial, older movies goes.

[Professor Zoom]

Hyfen_Underskor wrote:

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And then there's that annoying trend of misspelling words like "Sci-Fi" (which is a misspelling itself).

A curious criticism from a poster who chose to misspell both hyphen and underscore in order to have a unique name.

As others have said, it's a way to trademark their name. Honestly, what's the big deal? Would you be complaining about the name if you really liked the content? I would think not.

[Mr. Adventure]

Greg Cox wrote:

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Yeah. Personally, I think people tend to romanticize the past where Sci Fi/Syfy is concerned. Sure, they aired FARSCAPE back in the old days, but that was only one night a week. Most of their schedule consisted of reruns of old, cancelled shows. I used to refer to it as the Lost Elephant's Graveyard of Dead Genre Shows. I tended to watch the original stuff like THE INVISIBLE MAN and FARSCAPE, but had little interest in rewatching ancient episodes of THE INCREDIBLE HULK or whatever, aside from checking out an occasional ep for nostalgia's sake.

And, of course, now that pretty much everything is available on DVD, there's even less point in a channel that mostly reruns vintage sf shows. Anyone who wants to veg out on old BUCK ROGERS episodes can just buy the boxed set or download them from NetFlix or whatever . . ..

I think it's how it went down, not only did they add wrestling to the lineup but it took place of the day where they showed all their best loved original programming. Not bound to leave a good taste.

And maybe it's because I personally don't care for their reality tv type programming like Ghost Hunters/Face Off/Scare Tactics/etc, etc I would prefer old reruns to that. Though I never understood why they dumped a bunch of episodes into a block rather than air a show in a time slot where one might tune in every day. I suppose the new programming is easier to consume in random chunks and probably works better for the way they air their programs.

[RJDiogenes]

Sciffy should rename itself Sturgeon's Law-- 90% of it is crap. However, the other 10% includes some good stuff. The wrestling and paranormal shows belong on other channels, no doubt about it, but much of their original programming is good. Currently, Warehouse 13, Being Human and Lost Girl are very good. Haven is not very good, but it's entertaining. Merlin is good, but I don't get to see it very often. In the past, Sanctuary, Eureka and the first two Stargates were very good. Farscape was good, though I didn't care for it. And, being a big fan of B-Movies, I always tape the Saturday night movie.

I do miss the classic shows-- that's what they should be running instead of the paranormal and wrestling shows. Sure they are available on DVD, but DVDs don't catch and hook casual viewers. MeTV does show a handful of genre shows, but I think the world needs a nostalgia channel devoted exclusively to creative programming.

[Mr. Adventure]

RJDiogenes wrote:

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Sciffy should rename itself Sturgeon's Law-- 90% of it is crap.

SturFy?

[Greg Cox]

I think we can all stipulate that the wrestling doesn't belong, but, like I said, it's only one night a week and, at this point, the usual gripes about it have become boring and predictable. It's like complaining about death and taxes; it long ago lost any entertainment value!

[Hyfen_Underskor]

Professor Zoom wrote:

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A curious criticism from a poster who chose to misspell both hyphen and underscore in order to have a unique name.

As others have said, it's a way to trademark their name. Honestly, what's the big deal? Would you be complaining about the name if you really liked the content? I would think not.

I know. That's why I made the comment (because it's really not a big deal, and I purposely misspelled my user name).

[NKemp3]

Greg Cox wrote:

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In the meantime, they still air plenty of good shows, both homegrown and imported: WAREHOUSE 13, BEING HUMAN, FACE/OFF, HOT SET, ALPHAS, LOST GIRL, MERLIN, etc.

Only problem is not one of those shows, with the possible exception of Alphas, is any good.

[Mr. Adventure]

Greg Cox wrote:

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I think we can all stipulate that the wresting doesn't belong, but, like I said, it's only one night a week and, at this point, the usual gripes about it have become boring and predictable. It's like complaining about death and taxes; it long ago lost any entertainment value!

Greg Cox wrote:

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Sure, they aired FARSCAPE back in the old days, but that was only one night a week.

Those nights can be significant. I get your point but I think it's valid in a thread about the Syfy Channel.

And Farscape wasn't alone in that slot, there was usually something else with it. I used to look forward to ending the work week with Sci-Fi Friday. Maybe Syfy is trying to encourage me to do something less lame with my weekend but I used to enjoy that.

[Greg Cox]

NKemp3 wrote:

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Only problem is not one of those shows, with the possible exception of Alphas, is any good.

Well, that's a matter of taste. I actually like most of those shows quite a bit, and wouldn't necessarily put ALPHAS at the top of the pack. I'm actually very psyched about LOST GIRL and BEING HUMAN coming back tomorrow . . . .

(Granted, I admit to being biased where WH13 is concerned, but, honestly, I was a big fan of the show before I got tapped to write the book!)